Picking up a component from one location and placing it in another is how all automated Pick and Place Machines work. Rather than utilizing fingers or tweezers like a human operator, the pick and place employs a tiny suction nozzle to push against the component and hold it in place with suction. Once the nozzle gets a solid grip on the component, it raises it up and inserts it where it is needed, immediately releasing the suction. While the pick and place machine, or pick and place machinery, is programmed with the component's original and final positions, slight deviations in placement can occur. Then, using computer vision, these positions are validated, ensuring that the board is indeed in the desired position. It also ensures that the nozzle really picks up the component. Fiducials and tooling holes are commonly referenced in discussions of automated machines since both are used by computer vision as references. Fiducials are made specifically for this purpose, whereas tooling holes are made primarily to keep boards or panels in place mechanically, but they can also be used as reference points. The great majority of pick and place machines use a Cartesian coordinate system, with the head moving in the X and Y axes for the most part. The nozzle may move up and down on the Z-axis to choose components, however, the majority of movement is two-dimensional.
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